United Nations Headquarters 15 January 2004
PARTICIPATING MEDIA COMPANIES
The BBC World Service has taken an ambitious approach to addressing HIV/AIDS. It has tapped the powerful reach of the World Service airwaves to bring HIV/AIDS issues to more than 150 million weekly listeners. It has also drawn on the capacity of its media-and-development NGO, the BBC World Service Trust, to deliver hard-hitting prevention campaigns in some of the most HIV/AIDS-affected countries in the world.
BBC World Service
In December 2003, the BBC World Service launched its most ambitious global season of programmes ever to tackle the subject of HIV/AIDS. It was the biggest ever co-ordinated event the World Service has broadcast, and involved two weeks of dedicated programmes on all 43 language services producing hundreds of hours of special output including news reports, debates, documentaries, cultural programming and a special interactive website. Dr Richard Feachem, Head of the Global Fund described the season as: “The biggest, boldest and most impactful broadcasting response to the global challenge to AIDS yet mounted, which has brought huge credit to the BBC around the world.”
In addition, the BBC World Service is running educational ‘spots’ , which promote responsible sexual behaviour, three times a day on its eight language services to Africa and the Caribbean, through a BBC World Service Trust and Kaiser Family Foundation partnership.
BBC World Service Trust
The BBC World Service Trust is the charitable arm of the World Service and as an independent NGO aims to reduce poverty in developing countries through the innovative use and reach of the media. It is currently managing two of the world’s largest mass-media campaigns on HIV/AIDS, in India and Cambodia.
Its India campaign, now in its third year of operation, aims to promote behavioural change in regard to prevention and stigmatisation of people living with HIV/AIDS. The project has reached more than 125 million people with an award-winning TV detective-drama series, Jasoos Vijay. Impact evaluation shows a major impact on behavioural change, with 54% of respondents reporting actions, or intended actions, to improve their sexual health. These steps included discussing condoms for protection against STIs, including HIV-AIDS (35%), using condoms (25%) and seeing a doctor about STI symptoms (15%).
Other campaign programmes include TV spots and an innovative TV youth “reality” show, which recently won a Commonwealth Broadcasting Award. The campaign is carried out in partnership with India’s national broadcaster, Doordarshan, and India’s National AIDS Commission (NACO), and is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).
In addition, the BBC World Service Trust is running a major HIV/AIDS prevention campaign in Cambodia in early 2004. The campaign will include a TV drama, TV spots, radio phone-in shows, and radio spots, and will provide two years of intensive broadcasting on Cambodia’s major TV and radio channels. The campaign will promote an integrated range of messages, including HIV/AIDS prevention, health-seeking behaviour, and maternal and child health issues. It is funded by DFID and is carried out in partnership with Cambodia’s Ministry of Health.
Future Commitments
The BBC World Service Trust is currently in the feasibility phase of large-scale HIV/AIDS behavioural change campaigns in eight countries in Africa: Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. The purpose of this phase, which has been funded by DFID, is to develop campaign proposals, based on a wide range of information, including an assessment of existing HIV/AIDS media interventions and the willingness of governments and broadcasters to work in partnership with the World Service Trust. Since both the HIV epidemic and knowledge, attitudes and practices of populations vary enormously between the eight countries, campaign outputs are being tailored-made for each country in order to ensure appropriateness and success. Once complete the project proposals will be submitted to a variety of donors for consideration. It is anticipated that work will begin in a number of the eight countries later in 2004.
Since 1998, the Kaiser Family Foundation and BET: Black Entertainment Television have partnered on Rap It Up, an extensive public education campaign to inform young people about sexual health issues, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The partnership includes special programming, public service advertisements (PSAs), online content on bet.com, and a toll-free resource and referral hotline. In 2001, the campaign added a grassroots initiative to complement on-air and online components. Program elements include teen forums, mobile HIV testing events, and a middle and high school curriculum on HIV/AIDS. The campaign has been nominated for an Emmy for Best National Public Service Announcement twice in 2002 and 2001, and has received numerous other awards, including the 2002 Cable Positive POP Award for Outstanding Newsmagazine Series, the 2002 CTPAA Joel Berger Award, the 2002 NAACP Image Award, the 2002 Academy of Television Arts & Science TV Cares "Ribbon of Hope" Award, and the 2002 NBACA Community Service Award.
BET, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is the nation's leading television network providing quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs programming for the African-American audience. The BET Network reaches more than 78 million households according to Nielsen media research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. BET is a dominant consumer brand in the urban marketplace with a diverse group of branded businesses: BET.com, the Number 1. Internet portal for African Americans; BET Digital Networks - BET Jazz, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting- edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, specializing in a full range of event production services, including event management, venue selection, talent recruitment, sound, lighting and stage production; and BET Books, the nation's leading publisher of African- American themed romance novels under the Arabesque Books label, and publisher of new imprints Sepia and New Spirit.
SPECIAL PROGRAMMING: Since the launch of the campaign, six years ago BET and the Foundation have teamed up to produce 17 longer-form specials covering issues ranging from sexual identity to HIV testing to relationships. Among them: the annual 106 & Park World AIDS Day Special, which brings two of BET’s top talent together with young people living with HIV and sexual health experts for a live show talking about the epidemic’s impact on African Americans; Open Mic, a new format developed by the network for youth that and we have used to discuss HIV testing and communication; and, The Naked Truth, an award-winning series of documentaries that have focused on issues like women’s sexual health and men living on the “Down Low”. Based on audience tracking data, it is estimated that collectively the shows – which typically are re-broadcast multiple times -- have attracted more than 7.2 million viewers.
PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTISEMENTS (PSAS): Each year, the Foundation and BET develop a set of new PSAs to reach BET viewers with sexual health information. These messages seek to raise awareness about the risk of HIV and encourage those who are sexually active to practice safer sex or be tested. Among the more than 18 spots that have been produced to date, Joel Schumacher, the acclaimed movie director, has guest produced several PSAs for the campaign, including a series on HIV testing, which air jointly with MTV.
FREE SEXUAL HEALTH RESOURCES. The campaign offers a dedicated toll-free hotline (1-866- RAP IT UP) and website (www.rap-it-up.com) for viewers seeking additional information. Through these services, viewers can receive a free informational guide, It’s Your (Sex) Life: Your Guide To Safe & Responsible Sex, or be connected with counselors at the CDC’s HIV/STD hotlines or a local Planned Parenthood. All PSAs and programming produced under the campaign are tagged with the hotline and/or website. To date, close to 800,000 people have called the hotline and many more have visited the website to learn more.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH: In 2001, the campaign launched a grassroots initiative to complement the on-air and online components of Rap It Up. Program elements include teen forums, mobile HIV testing events, and a middle and high school curriculum on HIV/AIDS.
“CHOICES”: BET talent host teen forums that educate young people about HIV/AIDS and improve decision-making skills. BET staff coordinates with the local public health departments, community based organizations (CBOs), AIDS service organizations (ASOs) and local radio stations to develop a panel of experts customized to fit the needs of each market.
Rap It Up On WHEELS: BET visits urban areas with high HIV/AIDS prevalence and partners with the public health departments to conduct on-site HIV testing and distribute educational materials. The tour piggybacks on the nation’s largest African-American community events, including the National Black College Tour, NAACP National Convention, Harlem Health Fair, Unity Day in Philadelphia and the Kings Dominion Hip Hop Concert in Richmond, VA.
Rap It Up HIV/AIDS CURRICULUM: The curriculum incorporates the BET / Kaiser Family Foundation documentary series “The Naked Truth” and provides lesson plans, discussion guides and other resources. The curriculum is available for free to middle and high school teachers and is available on-line or through the mail.
Future Commitments
Rap It Up, BET’s award-winning public education partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation, will continue in 2004 for a record seventh year. The campaign will continue to reach young African Americans through a multi-faceted approach that combines on-air components – including public service messages as well as longer-form specials – with community activities and extensive free resources through the campaign’s dedicated toll-free hotline and website.
Among the activities planned for 2004 are:
A new version of BET’s popular Naked Truth documentary series that examines how stigma and discrimination about sexual identify is affecting the sexual health of African Americans, specifically HIV rates; A World AIDS Day program on BET’s top-rated video countdown show 106 & Park BET Nightly News report on African American women and HIV/AIDS; A screenplay competition about HIV/AIDS in the African American community; winners will be announced on National Testing Day; A series of new public service messages reaching young African Americans about HIV testing and prevention.
With additional financial support from the Ford Foundation, BET and the Kaiser Family Foundation will extend the activities of the campaign to add additional on-air programming, a new curriculum component to use in schools in conjunction with select specials, and an assessment.
As a public broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV) regards it a social responsibility to contribute to the campaign against HIV/AIDS. CCTV has produced many programs on the subject, using the medium of television to its best advantage. CCTV has made and broadcast news programs, feature programs, TV dramas, and public service announcements to educate the public about this disease.
News programs
Various news programs on HIV/AIDS are broadcast in different timeslots and on different channels. This is done to create a spirit of cherishing life and unity against AIDS. There is an annual special report around World Aids Day on December 1, as well as regular reporting on HIV/AIDS. CCTV annually broadcasts about 200 news items on HIV/AIDS on CCTV-1 (comprehensive channel), CCTV-4 (Chinese language international channel) and the News Channel. Since November 2002, CCTV has broadcast 282 news items which covered not only the updated medical research development and love & care activities related to HIVV/AIDS, but also national policies, regulations and relief measures, which have shaped a positive public attitude towards HIV/AIDS.
CCTV has put special emphasis on informing young people about HIV/AIDS. For example, the Beijing Municipal Government recently set up a sex education program for teenagers. CCTV followed up on it with a series of special reports. CCTV publicized that the number of people with HIV/AIDS had exceeded 1 million in China, and that unsafe sexual practices are one of the primary causes. In addition to raising awareness among young people about HIV/AIDS, CCTV also recognizes the importance of popularizing knowledge about HIV/AIDS in rural areas of China. As such, CCTV has produced a series on how the Chinese government is putting more resources into the fight against HIV/AIDS in rural areas.
Feature programs
CCTV has taken advantage of several highly rated news magazine programs to publicize the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. Oriental Horizon, News Investigation, and Face to Face focus on the care and love that society should give to people with AIDS. CCTV also puts emphasis on covering issues relating to HIV/AIDS such as medical knowledge in the most popular health program—Road to Health. In addition, CCTV uses its teenager program—The Twelfth Studio—to reach out to young people about HIV/AIDS through discussion.
Programming Examples:
• Oriental Horizon featured “The Rights of AIDS Patients”(on October 28, 2002) and “Discuss Sex in the Light of Day” (on October 11, 2002); • Record featured “ Sharing Life”, on World Aids Day (on December 1, 2002); • News Investigation showed in succession, “The Narrow Path of AIDS Patients”, “Getting Close to Wenlou Village”, “HIV Patient Li Jiaming Faces the Viewers”, winning strong feedback. • Three programs were broadcast this year: “Face up to AIDS: Interview with an AIDS Patient”; “Nothing to Do With Aids”; “Gao Yaojie: Help the AIDS Orphans”. • The 78th episode of Exploration and Discovery, “Approaching Africa,” tells the story of AIDS being not only an infectious disease, but a global disaster. • Night News Dialogue featured programs like “Middle School Starts Course on AIDS Prevention.” • Road to Health provides medical knowledge and information. Every year, Road to Health broadcasts 6-7 programs on HIV/AIDS. Since 1996, it has featured about 50 such programs, making a special contribution to prevention and control.
TV Dramas
CCTV reaches all social sectors through the production and airing of TV dramas with HIV/AIDS as the subject. In 2002, CCTV broadcast “If There Is Tomorrow” on prime time on CCTV’s Drama channel. In 2003, CCTV broadcast the 20-episode “The Red Ribbon,” on prime time around World AIDS Day.
Public Service Announcements
Public service announcements can have a profound effect on viewers’ thinking by being simple and to the point. CCTV has produced and broadcast three series on different channels: “Basic Knowledge about AIDS”, “Care for AIDS Patients”, and “Initiative on Healthy Life by Celebrities.” For about half a month around World AIDS Day, CCTV broadcasts 1 to 2 minutes of public announcements daily.
Future Commitments
CCTV plans to give more timeslots to AIDS coverage and explore more extensive fields of publicity. In the future coverage of the AIDS epidemic, CCTV will intensify such programming on Channels 1, 4, 9 and the News Channel. On the Science and Education Channel, the Western Region Channel, and the agricultural programs, CCTV will also expand the content on prevention of HIV/AIDS and give priority to those programs as far as scheduling and repeat broadcasts are concerned.
At the same time, CCTV will do more to include AIDS-related issues in our coverage, such as psychological and social effects. This means more programs reflecting society’s care and concern for AIDS patients and issues concerning stigma and discrimination. Road to Health will produce at least 10 such feature programs in 2004.
Winning the fight against HIV/AIDS requires a long-term commitment and sustained public education. As such, CCTV has and will continue to reserve regular broadcast time for publicizing the prevention of HIV/AIDS in programs like “Chinese Population” on Channel 1 and “Road to Health” on Channel 2. Brand name programs such as “ News Investigation” and “Tell It Like It Is” will also continue to give attention to HIV/AIDS. In addition, CCTV will make concentrated efforts in the production of special programs around World AIDS Day.
In sum, CCTV will continue its commitment to this global fight against HIV/AIDS and provide public education through multiple forms, such as TV dramas, evening shows, public service announcements and documentaries.
Discovery Communications, Inc. is the leading global real-world media and entertainment company, creating the highest quality content and services to help people explore their world and satisfy their curiosity. Discovery has grown from its core property, the Discovery Channel, first launched in the United States in 1985, to current global operations in more than 156 countries and territories. Discovery’s family of 14 entertainment brands reaches over 950 million total subscribers around the world.
The company takes seriously its responsibility to help bring the full potential of the Information Age to people all around the world. In its efforts to help to combat HIV/AIDS, Discovery is committed to using its vast network of global resources to help raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Discovery focuses on informing people, especially those who might be hardest to reach or the most at risk, about the magnitude of the disease, how it’s contracted, how risk of transmission can be reduced or prevented and by reporting on the medical advances that offer treatment options.
Discovery marshals its resources to create world-class, culturally relevant programming on HIV/AIDS that can be seen in the United States and around the world, including developing countries. In observance of World AIDS Day, and throughout the year, Discovery’s networks around the world air programs that address issues ranging from the increase of orphans due to the HIV/AIDS crisis to identifying populations at risk of contracting the disease to dealing with the stigma of having it. Discovery’s commitment to bring original, high-quality content from anywhere in the world to audiences everywhere in the world is underscored by programming featuring frontline accounts of the battle against HIV/AIDS from Houston to Harare and San Francisco to Siem Riep. (Program titles are attached.)
Beyond programming-specific activities, Discovery has worked for many years at the grassroots level in the developing world to ensure more equitable access to information on HIV/AIDS and other important topics through the Discovery Channel Global Education Fund (DCGEF). Founded in 1997 by Discovery President and Chief Operating Officer Judith A. McHale, the Global Education Fund is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization that today provides over a quarter of a million children in under-resourced and remote communities in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe with televisions, VCRs, satellite or cable connections, long-term training and access to relevant and vital programming from a wide array of sources. The technology and training increase educational opportunities and improve access to information in these impoverished communities. Discovery is proud to work with other corporations and local governments in this successful example of private-public sector partnerships that are delivering proven, positive benefits to populations most vulnerable to the AIDS pandemic.
The Discovery Channel Global Education Fund and the communities it reaches use television to educate children and community members about HIV/AIDS and other sensitive and complicated issues. Many schools participating in the project have become a focal point for HIV/AIDS education. For instance, in Namibia, a women’s group holds HIV/AIDS workshops for children and parents every Wednesday at the DCGEF Learning Centers, and, in Uganda, Peace Corps volunteers utilize television to teach about HIV/AIDS and administer other related initiatives. This function is important since many of the people reached by the Global Education Fund are the most under-served members of society, including HIV/AIDS orphans. In Africa, some Learning Centers report as many as 80% of their students are AIDS orphans.
In addition to the Global Education Fund initiative, Discovery collaborates with international and non-governmental organizations and AIDS advocacy groups to help raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS crisis to the largest possible global audience. Working with the United Nations, the Pan-American Health Organization, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Cable Positive, among others, Discovery has helped to create PSAs, develop documentaries, sponsor events and raise funds to increase and amplify HIV/AIDS awareness efforts. Discovery Communications is committed to continuing to work with these organizations and its industry peers to further inform and educate on this vitally important global health issue.
HIV/AIDS Program Titles
• AIDS: Answers and Breakthroughs - Changing Faces (airdate: 12/1/03 on Discovery Health Channel Asia and Discovery Health Channel Latin America/Brazil; will air on Discovery Channel in China: 2/04)
• AIDS: Answers and Breakthroughs - Ending the Epidemic (airdate: 12/1/03 on Discovery Health Channel Asia and Discovery Health Channel Latin America/Brazil; will air on Discovery Channel in China: 2/04)
• AIDS in the 21st Century (airdate: 12/1/03 on Discovery Health Channel, US)
• AIDS Orphans: Lost Childhood (airdate: 12/1/03 on Discovery Health Channel, US)
• AIDS: The Plague of the Century (airdate: 12/27/03; repeating 2Q04 on Discovery Science Channel/Europe)
• Billion Dollar Blood (airdate: 1/28/03 ; repeating 2Q04 on Discovery Science Channel/Europe)
• Born with HIV: Little Warriors (airdate:12/1/03 on Discovery Health Channel, US)
• Circumcision vs. AIDS in Africa: Scientists Fight to Solve Medical Mystery in Hope of Containing the Epidemic (airdate: 12/1/01 on TLC)
• Fitness Fantasy: Colin Sarjeant (airdate: 7/03 on Discovery Channel India; repeating 1/04)
• Health Diary: Teen with AIDS/2nd Opinion – Insomnia/Healthy Eating (airdate: 12/1/03 on Discovery Health Channel Latin America/Brazil)
• Health Diary: Whooping Cough/AIDS Vaccine/Aging Successfully (airdate: 12/1/03 on Discovery Health Channel Latin America/Brazil)
• Living Pulse 2: Episode 6 (airdate: 11/03 on Discovery Channel India)
• Trauma IV- Life in the ER: Life Less Ordinary (airdate: 9/03 on Discovery Channel India)
• Whatever Happened to the Plague (airdate: 12/11/03; repeating 2Q04 on Discovery Science Channel/Europe)
Gazprom-Media recognizes the serious threat posed by HIV/AIDS to Russia and is committed to promoting the health and well-being of Russian citizens through information campaigns aimed at education and prevention, and the eliminating of stigma and discrimination. All mass- media companies of the Gazprom-Media holding – television networks, radio stations and print publications – regularly and broadly cover the topic of HIV/AIDS in Russia and around the world.
Broadcasts aired on the popular television channel NTV bring into focus the issue of drug use and the problem of HIV/AIDS in the context of weekly programs such as “Coma is a truth,” medical program “Nonprescription” and the analytical program “Namedni,” among others. In 2003 a full edition of “Reporter profession” series was devoted to the topic of HIV/AIDS. NTV also periodically broadcasts social advertisements in the form of public service announcements on preventive measures and early detection of HIV/AIDS, produced by the Russian Ministry of Health. Special daily programs “Medinfo” and “Granit Nauki” and weekly program “Clinic” that cover the latest scientific research on HIV/AIDS and medical news are aired on “Ekho Moskvy” (“Echo of Moscow”) radio station. In the context of the program “Rickoshet,” several on-line polls have been conducted on listeners’ attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS.
The subject of the fight against AIDS has been repeatedly discussed in live television and radio broadcasts; guests in the studio have included the Director of the Federal Centre to Fight AIDS professor Vadim Pokrovsky, permanent representative of the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in the Russian Federation Arkadiush Maishick and the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe professor Lars Kallings. During 2002-2003, NTV and “Ekho Moskvy” broadcast informational programs, which regularly featured reports on the HIV/AIDS epidemic status in Russia, vaccine research, appropriation of funds for the fight against AIDS, significant HIV/AIDS-related events and epidemiological statistics for Russia and the world.
The socio-political newspaper “Tribuna” has regularly published articles on drug use, sex education in the schools, religious aspects of drug and venereal disease prevention, and on the efforts of Russian scientists to develop a vaccine against AIDS. During 2002 and 2003, over twenty significant publications were devoted to issues of HIV/AIDS prevention, in addition to updates on the latest contributions of Russia’s scientific community to the fight against the “plague of the XXI century.”
Gazprom-Media participated in the first U.S.-Russia Business and Labor Summit on HIV/AIDS in New York in September 2003. This meeting, organized by Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS, was sanctioned by Presidents Bush and Putin and is referred to in official documents pertaining to their Camp David Summit. Gazprom-Media is also member and a sponsor of TPAA’s Transatlantic Business and Labor Taskforce on AIDS, an initiative endorsed by Presidents Bush and Putin as a key public-private partnership in the fight against AIDS. Gazprom-Media’s participation in this program commits the company to implementation of employee HIV/AIDS education programs and workplace policies of non-discrimination.
On December 1, 2003, World AIDS Day, NTV broadcast numerous informational programs, which featured comments from professors Vadim Pokrovsky and Lars Kallings, as well as from the U.S. Ambassador in the Russian Federation Alexander Vershbow; special program editions released the latest HIV/AIDS statistics for Russian cities, districts and regions. NTV’s leading anchor Savik Shuster was the emcee for the World AIDS Day Concert “Together Against AIDS,” organized by Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS (TPAA) and hosted by the Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Sergey Mironov and U.S. Ambassador Vershbow. The concert served to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS among Russia’s senior political and economic leadership, and will be aired nationally on NTV as a one-hour special in the beginning of January 2004.
Future Commitments
Gazprom-Media is playing a leading role in the “Russian Media Partnership to Fight HIV/AIDS,” organized by Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS (TPAA), with the support of KNOW HIV/AIDS, Viacom and the Kaiser Family Foundation’s public education effort. This multi-year project will unite the forces of multiple media outlets to design and implement a multi-faceted, cross- platform HIV/AIDS education and prevention campaign in the Russian Federation.
For more than a decade, communication strategies implemented by TV Globo aiming to promote social development have been playing a significant role concerning the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Brazil.
The 15th largest economy in the world, Brazil is a very large and rich nation, but also very unequal. With a Gini index of 0.56, worse than Latin America’s average, an illiteracy rate still at 11% and with only 23% of the population holding a High School diploma, the country faces huge challenges to find its path into the developed world.
In Brazil, television is the single most important source of information and entertainment for the vast majority of the population. More than 90% of the Brazilian households posses one or more TV sets, a penetration higher than radio (88%), while only 10% of the homes have Internet access. Newspaper readership is also very low: Brazil ranks 47th among 70 countries, according to the World Association of Newspapers. And less than 10% of the cities have movie theaters.
TV Globo’s signal covers nearly 99% of the Brazilian territory, reaching approximately 160 million potential viewers. Brazilians watch TV an average of four and a half hours per day. TV Globo’s total audience share has been over 50% for many years. From Jan-Oct 2003, the 9pm telenovela – Brazil’s top TV slot – has had an average of 35 million viewers per minute.
Fully aware of its responsibility, TV Globo has developed social initiatives through its core business activities since the early 70’s. The most innovative being the so-called Social Merchandising: the planned insertion of educational/social themes within the plot of a telenovela, with the purpose of sharing knowledge, raising awareness and stimulating debate over issues of public interest.
In 1991, when specialists predicted an explosion in the number of people infected with HIV in Brazil, TV Globo produced a primetime mini-series on the subject, entitled “HIV-Positive”. Regarded as decisive by national and international health authorities, the series helped to spread the message on prevention throughout the country, as well as face the prejudice against people living with AIDS. At the time, the government’s world-acclaimed HIV/AIDS programme was yet to be rolled out.
Since then, insertions on HIV/AIDS have became frequent within Globo’s drama productions, mostly encouraging condom use. In at least two telenovelas there were first-team characters carrying the HIV virus. In “Young Hearts” (Malhação) – a 5:30pm daily sitcom very popular among younger audiences and now in its 8th season –, a leading female actor played an HIV positive character for two years (1999-2001), allowing extensive discussion on the subjects of prevention, prejudice, rights and treatment.
In the last four years, Young Hearts alone had an average of 100 insertions/year relating to sexuality and sexual/reproductive health issues. Currently, in most telenovelas’ scenes which suggest a sexual relation, one of the characters – male or female – either shows or mentions condoms. The social impact of that practice is not limited to Brazilian audiences, as around 60 countries buy Globo’s telenovelas every year.
A more traditional tool, the Public Service Announcement has been used by Globo as a complimentary action to the Social Merchandising insertions. Over the last six years, Globo TV Network aired HIV/AIDS spots approximately 140,000 times (national and regional insertions), campaigns created either by Globo or by partner-NGOs and health organizations.
Apart from mobilization strategies, TV Globo’s journalism has provided substantial airtime in the form of special reports and week-long series on HIV/AIDS issues. Through its Pay TV 24-hour news outlet, Globo has also made HIV/AIDS the subject of several interview and analysis shows in recent years.
Future Commitments
In 2004, TV Globo intends to carry out an integrated approach to the HIV/AIDS subject, a coordinated strategy of entertainment/programming, editorial/coverage and advertising efforts to renovate awareness on HIV prevention. The “social cross-media”, as it is called, should involve other media companies within the Globo group, including newspapers, radio stations and other content-providers.
International Commercial Television (ICTV), one of Ukraine’s leading national broadcasters, and the Elena Franchuk Anti-AIDS Foundation, a private philanthropy, have joined efforts to draw attention to the problem of HIV/AIDS in Ukraine.
Together, they initiated the “Let’s Stop AIDS” campaign in November 2003. This is the first national, educational media campaign dedicated to informing the mass public about HIV/AIDS and how to prevent it. ICTV and the Elena Franchuk Anti-AIDS foundation have worked to mobilize the cooperation of all of Ukraine’s national broadcasters. Today “Let’s Stop AIDS” TV spots are shown also on regional and local channels. The campaign also encourages broadcasters to include HIV/AIDS topics in regularly scheduled programs such as health, lifestyle, youth and news programming.
ICTV was the lead media sponsor of the December 12, 2003 Benefit Concert for HIV/AIDS organized by the Elena Franchuk Anti-AIDS Foundation. The concert featured Russian conductor and violinist Vladimir Spivakov and the Kiev-debut of U.S. soprano Jessye Norman. The first benefit of its kind, the concert raised over $200,000, from private individuals and corporate sponsors, to benefit children living with HIV/AIDS. ICTV provided advance promotion and coverage of the event and its charitable mission. Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan supported the effort by sending a message of global solidarity.
Future Commitments
ICTV and the Elena Franchuk Anti-AIDS Foundation plan to continue building the momentum of the “Let’s Stop AIDS” campaign by expanding advertising to include additional television spots, print and outdoor advertising.
The organizations will continue to support education campaigns dedicated to HIV/AIDS. They are actively gathering video endorsements from internationally recognized leaders active on HIV/AIDS awareness issues.
The foundation plans to finance projects on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment as well as projects aimed at the eradication of the stigma and discrimination of HIV/AIDS infected people. It works in partnership with numerous organizations – including the United Nations in Ukraine, national, regional and local groups – dedicated to eradicating HIV/AIDS in Ukraine.
When the devastating effects of AIDS were made known to the public at large by the scientific community, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) was the first Middle Eastern television station to react in an attempt to bring the issue to a largely unaware public.
The first program ever aired in the Middle East on AIDS was broadcast by LBC in December 1990 and centered on the AIDS epidemic including routes of transmission, stigma and discrimination in addition to human rights issues. Another two-part documentary was aired in December 1992 with the participation of specialists and patients.
In November 1993, LBC aired “BADRYA”, on the life and days of an AIDS patient. This was the first time ever a veiled Arab woman, who contracted HIV from her husband, appeared on TV The documentary was awarded Best Medical Report by CNN and large portion of it was aired by CNN.
In 1995, a special edition of a local LBC talk show was dedicated entirely to AIDS, this time with the participation of the Ministry of Public Health and the representatives of several local associations. Again, in December 1997 and on the occasion of World AIDS Day, LBC aired “HYDE PARK SIDA”, a 90-minute documentary to boost the national effort to fight AIDS. LBC also aired a talk show in December of that year on HIV/AIDS.
In addition to airing longer form programming on HIV/AIDS, LBC has also aired short advisory public service announcement messages since 1993, with a special focus on World AIDS Day.
Future Commitments
LBC will continue to bring its contribution to any effort to educate the peoples of the Middle East about the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Since the first time it aired in November 2000, Metro TV has consistently broadcast HIV/AIDS- related news. Beginning in January 2001 Metro TV reporter Dadi Sumaatmadja and cameraperson Yeremia Leo Prabowo covered several HIV/AIDS cases in a port city, Merauke, in Indonesia’s province of Papua. Since that time, Metro TV has broadcast several features, talk shows and documentaries on HIV/AIDS issues. Our feature program “Sehari Bersama” (A Day With) reflected a positive story about a daily routine of a man who suffered from HIV/AIDS. Talk shows such as “Bincang Pagi” (Morning Conversation) and “Midnight Live” featured topics related to World’s AIDS Day on December 1st. Metro TV has also aired documentaries on HIV/AIDS including “Oasis”, which portrayed a photographer whose pictures of 13 HIV/AIDS patients as well as a patient turned HIV/AIDS activist who overcame a disease caused by her having no immune defense system.
“Media Indonesia”, Metro TV’s daily newspaper, has printed various stories related to HIV/AIDS titled “Mass Media and Private Sectors Support HIV/AIDS Patients’ Anti Discrimination Campaign”; “31% HIV/AIDS Sufferers Turned Down at Health Centers”; “Parliament Forum Organized Political Commitment to Prevent HIV/AIDS Disease Spread”; “HIV/AIDS Information Being Considered to be Part of School Curriculum”; “The Government Budgeted 120 Million Rupiahs to cut HIV/AIDS Spread Cycle”; “HIV/AIDS Patients’ Discrimination Must Be Eliminated”; “HIV/AIDS Victims in Bali Increased Sharply”; “More Than 260 Thousands Russians HIV Positive”; “Indonesia Among Serious AIDS Epidemic Countries in Asia”; and “Malang (Regency) Government Increased Budgets to Prevent the Spread of HIV/AIDS.”
Future Commitments
Metro TV and Media Indonesia will continue to keep their commitments to fight against stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV/AIDS and ensure that their voices be heard.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has been attracted for a long time to the motives and the mandate of the UN and other organizations in the struggle against the worldwide pandemic of AIDS. The work that the UN and others do is unique, effective and sorely needed. It is the aim of the MPAA to take an increasingly energetic role in making what the UN and other organizations do more enduringly effective.
An exemplar of this interest has been the continuing involvement in the fight against AIDS by some of the most famous movie and television stars in the world. By raising funds and by enlarging public awareness of the horrible decay in the human spirit caused by AIDS, they are and continue to be a huge force in this struggle that has literally torn countries apart.
With more than 50% of new HIV infections occurring among young people between the ages of 15-25, MTV: Music Television knows that it has a role to play in making its audience of youth more aware of HIV infection and prevention.
MTV has been involved in HIV/AIDS awareness since its launch in 1981, and over the last six years, has had a long-term and formal partnership with UNAIDS, the joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS. MTV’s Staying Alive campaign includes award winning long-form programming such as documentaries, concert events and discussion programmes, public service announcements (PSAs), a dedicated Web site www.staying-alive.org, sexual behaviour polls, and off-air marketing and promotions. In addition, the company is an active member of the Global Business Coalition (GBC) on HIV/AIDS. Bill Roedy, President of MTV Networks International and Ambassador of UNAIDS, served as Chair of the GBC for two years. During that time, he encouraged and advocated for other multinational and national businesses worldwide to engage in HIV/AIDS work for its employees and consumers.
MTV is the world's largest television network, reaching a potential audience of one billion people in 166 countries. With 43 locally programmed channels distributed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, North America and Russia, each MTV channel promotes local cultural tastes with a mixture of national, regional and international artists along with locally produced and globally shared programming. In addition, MTV has 26 locally operated Web sites worldwide. In any given hour more than 1.25 million 12–24 year-olds are watching MTV somewhere in the world (with 80% of that audience outside of the US), making it the leading multimedia brand for youth audiences.
Today, the Staying Alive campaign is the single-largest ongoing global HIV/AIDS education initiative exclusively directed at young people. In the U.S., Staying Alive programming offers American youth a global look at the epidemic. Staying Alive functions as a strong complement to the U.S. channel’s long-standing public education partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation, Fight for Your Rights: Protect Yourself, a youth-targeted sexual health campaign, as well as to the recently launched KNOW HIV/AIDS initiative, MTV’s parent company, Viacom’s campaign also with the Kaiser Family Foundation.
OBJECTIVES
The specific objectives of the Staying Alive campaign are:
• To raise awareness and knowledge about HIV/AIDS and safer sex skills for young people. • To fight the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS. • To empower young people to take concrete action to protect themselves and others against HIV/AIDS. • To engage other businesses, media and organisations to form their own response to HIV/AIDS. This includes broadcasting or using Staying Alive material rights free, at no cost.
2002/2003 Activities
In 2002 MTV Networks International and its partners expanded the Staying Alive initiative to launch a multi-tiered campaign to promote awareness about and prevention of HIV/AIDS in the international youth community and beyond.
Activities included an HIV/AIDS global forum with Bill Clinton, newly created PSAs, and a concert special featuring highlights of events held in Seattle, Washington and Cape Town, South Africa. MTV Presents Levi’s Jeans Staying Alive Concert in Association with YouthAIDS featured performances by Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs, Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews, Missy Elliott and Michelle Branch and premiered globally on World AIDS Day, 1st December.
All media produced for the Staying Alive campaign is available rights free and at no cost to any interested broadcasters or other organisations. In 2002/3, Staying Alive reached 64% of all TV households, distributed to 798 million homes, through broadcasting partners such as CCTV (China), Nova TV (Croatia), SABC (South Africa), TV Africa (broadcasting across 27 countries in Africa), BET (USA), Canal Futura (Brazil), ATB Red (Bolivia), ERTU (Egypt), RTP (Portugal), YLE (Finland), and La7 (Italy) to name just a few.
In July 2003, the global Staying Alive campaign launched with Meeting Mandela: A Staying Alive Special celebrating the life of the great humanitarian in conjunction with his 85th birthday. Offering viewers a historical look at Mr. Mandela’s life, the special also profiled several young people from diverse backgrounds who travelled to Johannesburg to meet Mr. Mandela and discuss topics with him such as HIV/AIDS, discrimination, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the struggle for democracy in Burma.
In the UK, the Staying Alive campaign launched as a multi-year, multi-million pound initiative in October 2003 through a partnership between Viacom and the Kaiser Family Foundation in association with the National AIDS Trust. The comprehensive campaign includes ad placements, long-form programming, events, print and online resources and is the first-ever collaboration across Viacom’s UK TV, Internet, outdoor advertising, publishing, cinema and retail properties. In addition to MTV, the campaign includes participation from VH1, TMF, Nickelodeon, Paramount Comedy, Blockbuster, Simon & Schuster, Paramount/UIP, UCI & Showcase Cinemas, Paramount Intl. Television, Viacom Outdoor and Viacom Brand Solutions.
The 46664 Concert in Association with MTV’s Staying Alive debuted globally on World AIDS Day, 1st December 2003. MTV encouraged all broadcasters around the world to premiere the special rights free, at no cost to get the messages of the campaign out to the widest possible audience. The special was made available to a potential rating audience of more than two billion.
Staying Alive campaign partners over the past two years have included the Nelson Mandela Foundation, UNAIDS, the World Bank, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Family Health International’s YouthNet, the National AIDS Trust (UK), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation, PSI’s YouthAIDS, Levi’s Jeans, and more.
Future Commitments
Staying Alive will continue to be the largest ongoing global HIV/AIDS education initiative for young people. MTV is committed to maintaining this momentum by leveraging its brand, reach, credibility with youth, access to international talent, and creativity, to communicate vital HIV prevention messages to its audience. Programming, including long and short form on-air content and other grass-roots activities are currently under development for another year of the global Staying Alive campaign. For more information, visit: www.staying-alive.org.
NHK
NHK has been Japan's leading broadcaster in reporting the AIDS epidemic since the early 80's. Most of the reports then focused on the situation of AIDS patients in the United States and its expansion to Africa. There were very few people with HIV infection or AIDS in Japan, and to prevent the inflow of the disease, broadcasters in Japan, especially NHK, broadcast educational programs on AIDS, that featured prevention. In the past few years, NHK has focused its programs on AIDS in its world-wide expansion, to the sub-Saharan region and Asia.
Some of the major programs we broadcast recently include:
May 2001 "Close Up Now" : examined the fact that AIDS patients in developing countries were deprived of low-priced drugs and reported Brazil's effort to supply generic drugs to AIDS patients to control the spread of the disease.
December 2003 "NHK Special". This was broadcast on the occasion of World AIDS Day a program updating the world-wide AIDS situation and the fight against the epidemic.
April 2003 "NHK Special" : featured the HIV infection problem among youngsters in Japan. The program pointed out the fact that the number of HIV infections was increasing explosive among Japanese yougsters due to their unrestrained sex behaviors, and examined the effectiveness of prevention education at schools.
NHK has also broadcast programs to raise awareness about the danger of the epidemic using its general, educational TV channels as well as radio, and will continually do so in the light of its seriousness for human beings all over the world.
PHOENIX SATELLITE TELEVISION HOLDINGS LTD.
Phoenix, a Hong Kong-based television broadcaster, broadcasts in Mandarin Chinese and draws its presenters from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. It features a broad mix of programmes, ranging from political and economic news and current affairs through talk shows and film and music reviews to movies and miniseries of both Chinese and foreign origin. The company also has a movie channel, which is a subscriber service broadcast in China, and a twenty-four hour news channel, InfoNews, which is broadcast via cable in Hong Kong and via satellite to China and the rest of East Asia.
Phoenix’s largest audience is in mainland China, where it reaches over 42 million households, which equates to more than 140 million viewers. Internationally, it can also be seen in Southeast Asia, Australasia, Europe and the US.
AIDS-oriented programs and future commitments from Phoenix include:
The first Pan-Asian region satellite broadcaster that broadcast contraceptive TV commercials
The self-produced program ‘China Forum’ invited Dr. David Ho Da-I as keynote speaker
News coverage of Premier Wen Jia-Bao visiting AIDS patients
Telecasted AIDS public service announcements from Hong Kong and Taiwan
News coverage of World AIDS Day
News and features coverage of AIDS patients in Taiwan
Self-produced features, ‘Inside Big Cases’ and ‘ Secret Documentaries’, covering AIDS patients in China
A self-produced news program, ‘From Phoenix to the World’ featured LIVE call out with AIDS patient in Taiwan
‘Starface’, our self-produced interview program featured the spokeperson of AIDS China Mr. Pu Cun-Xin
A ‘World AIDS Day Concert’ is scheduled for broadcast in Mid-January 2004
A ‘China AIDS Day Concert’ will be schedule for broadcast in near future
Prasar Bharati, the public service broadcaster of India, has two divisions: All India Radio which provides near 100% coverage and Doordarshan television which provides more than 90% coverage. Prasar Bharati recognizes that the AIDS epidemic is having a profound impact all over the world, and as a result, has geared up its programme producing centers of radio and television to give adequate importance to programming aimed at creating awareness among the Indian population regarding HIV/AIDS. Accordingly this subject has been given a very high priority by all these centers.
All India Radio: HIV/AIDS Programmes During the last 15 years, the HIV epidemic has spread rapidly in India. It is no longer a problem restricted to the high-risk behaviour groups such as sex-workers and intravenous drug users. The epidemic has also spread from urban to rural areas.
All India Radio (A.I.R), with its vast network of stations all over the country, consistently broadcasts programmes on HIV/AIDS in a large number of languages and dialects. However, A.I.R. recognizes that raising the level of awareness does not necessarily lead to the behavioural change of sustained health seeking behaviour. As a result, A.I.R. highlights preventive measures extensively. Wide publicity is given to these campaigns so that the general public utilizes the facilities provided by the Health & Family Welfare Department during the campaign.
On the occasion of World AIDS Day on 1st December 2002, programme heads of all A.I.R stations were advised to provide full publicity support to educate and inform the audience about the AIDS epidemic which can be prevented by proper measures. The theme for the Year 2002- 2003 (Live and Let Live) was highlighted through the broadcast of various programmes in different formats such as plays/features/Kavya Natika, Phone-in-Programmes/ Interviews with experts/Jingles, snippets and slogans etc. Many stations organised seminars before invited audiences and studio-based programmes in the form of questions-answers with the experts. Talks and discussions were also broadcast. Some of the stations also broadcast Spot Interviews with people living with HIV/AIDS. Musical programmes in the form of Folktune-songs and plays for layman, truck drivers, labourers etc. were also broadcast by some of the stations. A.I.R. has adopted a multi-lingual approach for its programmes on HIV/AIDS.
The theme and slogan ‘Live and let live’ has been widely discussed during the broadcast of a variety of programmes in health, youth, children, women, industrial workers and rural programmes. The maximum number of programmes have been broadcast on AIDS every year, to emphasize the fact that HIV/AIDS can be prevented with the proper information and knowledge. A lot of programmes in the form of Spot Interviews, talks, dialogues, discussions etc. were broadcast by almost all the Stations of A.I.R.
Doordarshan Television: HIV/AIDS Programmes Doordarshan has impressed upon all its production centers the need to give due importance to programming aimed at creating awareness regarding HIV/AIDS in their regular fixed-point charts. These centres formulated informative and interactive programmes such as live phone-in- programmes, studio interactions, short and long-duration dramas, panel discussions involving experts, docu-dramas, serials etc. in local languages and dialects towards raising awareness about HIV/AIDS. The frequency of these programmes varies from weekly to quarterly. The programmes mainly tackle themes of stigma, discrimination and treatment. Doordarshan had proposed a media plan to the Indian government’s National AIDS Control Organisation to telecast an intensive campaign around World AIDS Day on 1st December and during the whole month of December 2002. Under this plan 21 regional centres produced interactive programmes involving audience participation in regional languages and dialects.
Doordarshan, in collaboration with BBC World Service Trust and the National AIDS Control Organisation, has launched a large HIV/AIDS campaign on the National TV Network from July 2002. This campaign includes public service advertisement spots, production and telecast of a detective drama serial “Jasoos Vijay” and a youth TV show “Haath Se Haath Milaa”. Doordarshan provides media consultancy, producers for public service spots and air-time for these spots. The National AIDS Control Organisation gives technical guidance and sponsors the serials. The BBC bears the production costs. Financial benefits of commercial sponsorship from the serial goes to Doordarshan and the rights to software are shared by the three partners. The first phase of the serial had 40 episodes. “Jasoos Vijay” has won the Indian Telly Award in the category of “Best Thriller of the Year” in 2003 and “Haath se Haath Milaa” has won the CBA (Commonwealth Broadcasting Association) award for outstanding local children’s broadcasting, for its social message to youth against HIV/AIDS.
Doordarshan, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Department of Health, the Government of India, is also telecasting a weekly health magazine titled ‘Kalyani’ which focuses on HIV/AIDS issues during the months of December and January. This television magazine is being produced in three Indian languages i.e. Hindi, Oriya and Asamia. Within the Hindi speaking area, the programme is also being telecast in Chhatishgarhi, Nagpuria, Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Maithili dialects also. The programme was launched in May 2002. After completing a successful run of 52 episodes, the programme is in its second one-year phase. The programme is produced as a multi-segment TV programme in a most entertaining way. It is interactive with segments like phone-ins, quiz with studio participants and “doctor in the field”. In this segment, an expert is taken to rural areas to interact with the target audience. The months of December and January are specially observed as theme months for the campaign. However, relevant information is included in the programme throughout the year in form of field reports, success stories, and info-captions. Key messages, worked out in consultation with National AIDS Control Organisation are telecast in the form of short duration spots, songs, folk forms and informative interactive segments with experts. The theme for the current year, stigma and discrimination, was well illustrated in these programmes. The health campaign also provided for a weekly competition – question of the week and a monthly competition - slogan of the month. A total of 338 slogans were received last year.
Future Commitments
Prasar Bharati will continue to produce informative and interactive programmes on HIV/AIDS in consultation with the National AIDS Control Organisation and concerned state-level AIDS Control Society in weekly to quarterly frequencies. Yearly themes as decided by World Bodies and the National AIDS Control Organization will be included in these programmes. It has also been planned to show the success stories in relation to the announced themes.
The second phase of the popular serial “Jasoos Vijay” is being telecast on Doordarshan’s National Channel from December 28, 2003 for 24 episodes. The youth show “Haath se Haath Milaa” will also be telecast in the near future. The on-going health campaign ‘Kalyani’ will have 32 exclusive episodes on HIV/AIDS in January 2004.
Similarly a lot of programmes in the form of spot interviews, talks, dialogues, discussions etc. on HIV/AIDS will be broadcast by almost all the stations of A.I.R. in the country.
Radiotelevision Espanola (RTVE) is a public organization responsible for providing essential public services in the field of broadcasting. As such, it participates in state-lead campaigns directed at the general public. However, it does not just relay material supplied to it. It also actively produces material to augment such campaigns and help inform the public about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its impact.
Since 1996, in collaboration with other organizations such as the Ministry of Health, and the Anti-AIDS-Foundation, TVE has run an annual campaign, usually in the two months preceding World AIDS Day, in order to increase general public awareness about HIV/AIDS.
On World AIDS Day itself, all the daily news programs, both on television (TVE) and radio (RNE) include main items that are concerned with the disease, for example related research work, statistics, etc.
In addition, reports or references covering various aspects of the AIDS problem have been included in other programs, for example, news specials (like “Line 900”/”Linea 900”, “Eye Witness”/”Testigo Directo”, and “Weekly Report”/”Informe Semanal”), and programs of general interest (“About Your Health”/”A Su Salud”, “Knowing How To Live”/”Saber Vivir”, “Networks”/”Redes”).
Future Commitments
Because of the far-reaching importance of AIDS, the News Services of both TVE and RNE are aiming to continue covering all aspects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This will include broadcasting news about research work, aid projects, and information campaigns as well as providing information to raise public awareness of the disease and how to protect against it.
In particular, RNE already plans to broadcast special items on the “Radio 5 Todo Noticias” network in its programs “Health on R5TN”/”Salud en R5TN” (specific treatments and news of research), “Open Pharmacy”/”Farmacia Abierta” (prevention campaigns), “Testimonials”/”Testimonios” (the voices of those affected, their families and the professionals who are at risk) and both “This World”/”Este Mundo” and “World Together”/”Mundo Solidario” (both of which carry reports concerning the activities of the WHO and other international organizations prominent in the fight against HIV/AIDS).
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the largest broadcaster in Africa operating extensive television and radio broadcast networks. The SABC also is the largest producer of television and radio programming in Africa. HIV/AIDS education and prevention are a central part of the SABC’s programming mission. The SABC works to integrate HIV/AIDS related messaging and information into its most popular entertainment programming as well as through its extensive public service commitment.
The SABC’s goal is to work toward an AIDS free generation in South Africa and globally, and to provide hope for families and individuals affected by HIV/AIDS. This commitment focuses on:
• Increasing awareness of the extent of the epidemic • Providing information on the means of transmission and prevention of HIV • Targeting young people in particular with appropriate HIV prevention messaging • Encouraging more open communication between parents and their children about issues relating to HIV/AIDS • Providing information about AIDS treatment • Providing information on support programs for those affected by HIV/AIDS.
In fulfilling it’s HIV/AIDS mission, the SABC works in partnership with the South African Government and private sector groups, as well as corporate advertisers and sponsors. Concrete examples of our work include platforms addressing adults, youth and children through various genres, including drama, documentaries, magazines and talk shows, as well as extensive use of public service announcements. loveLife The SABC is the broadcast media partner for loveLife--South Africa’s national HIV prevention programme for youth. The loveLife partnership includes an annual series of public service announcements targeting youth and their parents on radio and television, extensive radio programming for young people on all 13 ethnic language radio stations, and co-produced television programming on South Africa’s leading youth channel including the popular S’camto series and an annual World AIDS day television special. The loveLife partnership also includes off–air activities, such as road shows, involving radio and TV celebrities, joint broadcasts with loveLife from remote locations, and activities designed to mark events such as World AIDS Day.
Commissioned Dramas Other SABC commissioned programming also targeting a youth audience includes three recently broadcast drama series:Yizo Yizo, Gaz’lam, and Tsha, Tsha. These dramas reflected the lives, loves and relationships of contemporary South African youth and included substantial HIV/AIDS content. Take 5, a daily youth talk show, also provides young people with a platform to debate and engage with issues that are uppermost in their minds and affect their lives and creates a base for formulating opinions and providing leadership with youth.
Children’s Programming Through our efforts to address the needs of children and their families, we have aligned our programming with the real life circumstances of the diverse range of South Africa cultural and family settings. Our goal is to educate young people and to encourage early parent child interaction and communication about difficult issues like gender, relationships, and HIV/AIDS. One of the primary vehicles for communicating with young children is the popular Soul Buddyz radio and TV drama promoting the health and well being of children aged 8-12. Using a format that appeals to this age group, messages about sexuality, HIV+AIDS interwoven with messages on children’s rights, have proved to be effective. The SABC’s most successful children programming venture is Takalani Sesame. This series includes the HIV positive Muppet, Kami.
While most current research shows that young children are generally uninformed about HIV+AIDS, the project’s preliminary findings suggests that Kami may be reaching children in new ways. Among 7-9 year olds in particular, it seems that the messages of acceptance of others with HIV+AIDs are coming through. “We must play with Children like Kami,” one respondent said.
Kami is breaking ground nationally and internationally. She has been introduced to the rest of Africa through SABC Africa and has just been appointed the UNICEF goodwill ambassador for children and their families, globally. Through Takalani, we will be addressing adults on how to talk to children about HIV+AIDS and to pass on basic information, as well as dealing with the emotional, spiritual and psycho- socially.
Partnership with the Government As part of its commitment to the Partnership against AIDS, launched by President Thabo Mbeki on 9 October 2002, the SABC entered into a partnership with the Department of Health (DoH) to create public awareness about HIV/AIDS. The SABC and DoH are committed to an ongoing campaign on radio and television to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS condition and to create a platform for those infected and affected by HIV to speak out. The SABC/DoH partnership and consciousness raising and publicity campaign runs under the umbrella name of Khomanani, which translates as Care enough to Act. The SABC is motivated to show communities across the country and continent that with positive action and programmes HIV/AIDS can be dealt with. The Positive Living campaign speaks to the moral and social responsibility we all have to assist in destigmatising HIV/AIDS by creating a safer environment for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The campaign shares an extensive mass social mobilisation geared at reducing stigma and enhancing health care seeking amongst HIV positive people. It encourages voluntary counselling and testing, increasing disclosure and reducing blame, denial and fear. The Circle of Support campaign is geared at supporting vulnerable children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and other social ills. The target group comprises of adults, both able to help as caregivers and those in need of assistance. A high capacity national information hotline has been operational since September 2002. Then there is the Khethimphilo campaign which translates as Choose Life and is aimed at young people. The key objective of this youth Aids prevention campaign is to inspire African youth through positive programming, individual and communal action to take responsibility for their own lives. By focussing on the youth as the face and voice of the campaign we reach the people at greatest risk and try to influence their individual attitudes and behaviour for the future. Using youth icons, role models, youth organisations, and schools, we will extend the message in hope of moving our country and the continent from awareness to action. In addition, there are the Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) and TB campaigns dedicated to raising public awareness about these conditions and encouraging people to take the necessary steps to prevention and cure. The Health Worker Excellence campaign, which is mainly radio- based and is aimed at healthcare professionals and carers, exhorts the public to light a flame of hope and culminates in a thank-you Public Service Announcement. It is envisaged that the work undertaken in the partnership between SABC and DoH will go a long way towards proving these organisations commitment to curtail the impact of HIV/AIDS and ensuring a healthy future for our country and continent.
Future Commitments
The SABC will continue to seek ways in which to bring messages about HIV+AIDS to all its viewers and listeners, both in South Africa, on the continent and globally. This is our commitment.
As the public broadcaster the SABC realises the magnitude of its responsibility to enlighten and inform the public about HIV/AIDS as well as the importance of supporting nationwide efforts to stem the tide of the pandemic.
We see extraordinary opportunities for media and communications companies to improve the global response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to raise awareness. At Time Warner, we are committed to using our unique resources to educate and inform communities about the prevention and causes of HIV/AIDS and about what can be done to end this pandemic.
Some of the programs we have initiated and support in the fight against AIDS are:
Pandemic: Facing AIDS: We provided major funding and support for this multi-faceted outreach campaign aimed at raising awareness of the global AIDS crisis through a variety of cultural and education projects. Components included an HBO documentary film by Rory Kennedy; a book and international photo exhibition of works by award-winning photographers from fifty countries that document 20 years of AIDS; an education campaign in five languages; public service announcements; and an award-winning Web site.
Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS: Time Warner serves on the board of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, a group of international businesses dedicated to engaging companies in the fight against HIV and to combating the AIDS epidemic through the business sector's unique skills and expertise.
Apathy is Lethal: Time Warner partnered with the U.N. Foundation to distribute a major Ad Council campaign of public service announcements – Apathy is Lethal – aimed at raising awareness of the impact of the crisis in developing countries.
AIDS Walk New York: We have been a major supporter of AIDS Walk New York for more than a decade. The Time Warner team has consistently ranked in the top two money-raising AIDS Walk teams and has raised more than $2 million. Warner Bros. in Los Angeles and Turner Broadcasting System in Atlanta have also taken leadership roles in organizing employee involvement in the AIDS Walks in their cities.
International AIDS Trust: Time Warner has served as a key partner with the International AIDS Trust in developing media programs that raise public awareness among opinion leaders and government officials.
Internews AIDS Project: We provided seed funding for a public-private project to train local disc jockeys, journalists and talk show hosts in Nigeria and Kenya in AIDS-related issues.
Time Warner’s businesses have taken the lead in raising awareness:
HBO presented Angels in America in December, the groundbreaking adaptation of Tony Kushner’s Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning play dealing with the AIDS epidemic and American life at the turn of the 21th century, and maximized awareness of the film through an unprecedented airing schedule on HBO, HBO2 and HBO Signature. CINEMAX debuted To Live is Better than to Die, a documentary examining rural China’s growing AIDS epidemic through the story of one HIV-infected family. HBO was also one of the first companies in America to have banned discrimination in hiring, firing and promoting based on HIV status.
Time magazine's February 2001 cover story on AIDS in Africa helped NetAid.org raise more than $1 million for Africans affected by the disease.
Time Inc. publications have donated tens of millions of dollars in advertising space to AIDS- related organizations and initiatives. InStyle magazine sponsored the 10th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation event in Hollywood, which raised more than $500,000, and People magazine has been a major sponsor of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation for more than 12 years. Time Inc.’s gay and lesbian employee affinity group Out@TimeInc hosted Amfar Chair Dr. Mathilde Krim for World Aids Day.
Time Warner Cable supports national HIV/AIDS programs as a board member of Cable Positive, the cable and telecommunications industry's AIDS action organization, and also provides in-kind and financial support to local AIDS programs in the communities served through its 31 cable divisions in 27 states.
America Online annually programs special content on World AIDS Day in AOL’s Health and News channels. AOL reaches out to its members to provide information and a venue for support and discussion through member chats, message boards, photos, history and news. AOL is currently running a targeted public service ad campaign in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to create awareness of the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, particularly AIDS.
Time Warner’s support to various AIDS organizations reflects the importance of this issue to our company and our businesses. A sampling of the organizations that we support include:
• AIDS Action Foundation www.aidsaction.org • AIDS Project Los Angeles www.apla.org • The American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR) www.amfar.org • Black Leadership Commission on AIDS www.blca.org • Children Affected by AIDS Foundation www.caaf4kids.org • Cable Positive www.cablepositive.org • Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation www.pedaids.org • Elton John AIDS Foundation www.ejaf.org • The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) www.glaad.org • The Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) www.glsen.org • Gay Men's Health Crisis www.gmhc.org • The Hentrick Martin Institute www.hmi.org • The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) www.hrc.org • Lambda Legal www.lambdalegal.org • Latino Commission on AIDS www.latinoaids.org • The National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association (NGLJA) www.nglja.org • The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) www.ngltf.org • The National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay Bisexual & Transgender Organization (LLEGO) www.llego.org • National Youth Advocacy Coalition www.nyacyouth.org • The New York City Lesbian and Gay Community Center www.gaycenter.org • Video Industry AIDS Action Committee www.viaac.org
TV5 is the first French global TV channel and a forum for all shades of opinion. It is a general- interest TV channel offering an original view of the world by providing information and programmes whose concern is to portray and share a diversity of cultures and outlooks. TV5 can be picked up by cable or satellite by more than 140 million homes, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week in 165 countries, making it one of the 3 largest global TV networks, alongside MTV and CNN.
For several years now, TV5's editorial team, programmes and internet site have given extensive coverage to events and programmes focusing on global AIDS control. In collaboration with UNAIDS, during the week of World AIDS Day special programmes have been devoted to efforts to control the pandemic; the programmes hinge on:
Mobilizing TV5's editorial team who devote numerous items and TV panels (guests on TV news broadcasts and in the programme L'invité) to the global AIDS control effort.
Broadcasting UNAIDS mobilization campaigns: "Live and let live", in December 2003
Purchase of documentaries and dramas addressing the different issues raised by the epidemic in different parts of the world:
"Vivre positivement" (Look on the bright side), by Fanta Régina Nacro, broadcast in December 2003;
"Une histoire de l'AZT" (A history of AZT), by Vincent Detours and Dominique Henry, broadcast in December 2003;
"ABC Africa" by Abbas Kirostami, broadcast in December 2002;
"L'homme que j'aime" (The man I love) by Stéphane Giusti, broadcast in December 2002;
"It's my life", by Brian Telley, broadcast in December 2002;
"SIDA ici et là-bas" (AIDS here and there), by Pierre-Yves Vanderweerd, broadcast in December 2002.
Broadcasting short programmes produced by different health agencies and AIDS organizations;
"Les scénarios du Sahel" (Sahel settings), feature films; "Azimuts", reports produced by UNDP; "Moussa le taximan" (Moussa the taxi driver), feature films
Musical video clips by Ensemble contre le Sida.
The wide range of formats used, current events, films, documentaries, short programmes, musical clips and advertising breaks enables us to get across to audiences with different tastes in TV programmes.
Occasionally, TV5 acts directly in support of activities or projects connected with AIDS control, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa:
Offering the first prize for Scénarios du Sahel (West Africa) - 2002;
Providing audiovisual equipment for CTA (Outpatient Treatment Centres) in Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Faso - 2003.
Future Commitments
TV5 wishes further to intensify its commitment to AIDS control by adopting a framework agreement for cooperation and partnership with UNAIDs in order to:
Strengthen global mobilization for AIDS control thanks to programmes promoting an understanding of the epidemic through a global and regional focus and mobilizing audiences at an individual level;
Act as a mouthpiece for the 40 million people living with HIV thanks to an exchange of testimonies and views that hold out hope for control efforts without concealing the political, social and cultural problems posed by the epidemic;
Encourage the production and broadcasting of programmes and images (films, dramas, documentaries, personal testimonies and magazines) making it possible to address:
The major issues cutting across all regions and which foster North/South, South/North, South/South and North/North comparisons and exchanges of experience;
Crisis situations threatening certain areas with outbreaks of epidemics: young demobilized soldiers in the Great Lakes region, refugee camps, prisons, famines, etc;
The intimate personal worries of those who, in one way or another, are faced with AIDS.
These objectives could be attained by:
1. Developing special programmes on AIDS on TV5, involving mobilization of the human resources and image bank of UNAIDS, which has a vast global network of representatives in the field;
2. Broadcasting UNAIDS global or regional campaigns on TV5, with its eight specific regional signals, and by relaying basic information on AIDS control through TV5's news programmes and broadcasts;
3. Jointly developing audiovisual productions that enrich the store of images of global efforts to control AIDS; these joint productions could involve pooling resources or jointly seeking other partners.
Since 2001, The Kaiser Family Foundation and Univision have collaborated on a national public education campaign called ¡Entérate! / ¡Protégete! providing young Latinos (under 25) with information and free, confidential resources on sexual health issues, including HIV/AIDS. This Emmy-nominated, campaign addresses a range of topics, including sexual decision-making, communication, and the facts about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The campaign, and the commitment to HIV/AIDS, are now part of the network’s larger health initiative launched November 19th, 2003 called ”Salud es Vida…Entérate!”
In addition to national public service advertising on Univision and TeleFutura, the campaign has also worked at the community level, partnering with affiliate stations to support local news and public affairs programming on HIV/AIDS and the epidemic’s impact on Latinos, linking stations with local AIDS service organizations and events. In 2003, the campaign supported national and local news coverage of National HIV Testing Day in June, and the first annual Latino AIDS Awareness Day in October, and most recently World AIDS Day, December 1st. Working closely with leading national HIV/AIDS organizations like the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) and the Latino Commission on AIDS, the campaign has included local and national news programming about HIV/AIDS, reaching over 90% of Univision’s markets during 2003.
Public Service Announcements The campaign has developed a series of new advertisements each season, including 30- second spots that raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and encourage HIV testing. The PSAs, which are developed exclusively for the network, are tagged with the campaign’s toll-free telephone number (1-866-TU SALUD), which connects viewers with free bilingual sexual health materials and local health care resources through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National STD and AIDS Hotlines.
Free Informational Resources The campaign’s free bilingual sexual health guide ¡Entérate! created exclusively with Univision, offers readers information on a range of issues, including how to communicate with a partner or a health care provider about their sexual health, symptoms and treatment for STDs, HIV testing, and options for protection and contraception. The guide is distributed thru a toll-free hotline and on Univision.com.
Exclusive Content at Univision.com and Expert Chats The campaign has also developed a comprehensive source for sexual health content at Univision.com, (keyword: Entérate) including a sexual health information guide, chats with sexual health experts, and feature news articles.
Future Commitments
In 2004, the campaign will expand further, with new television public service advertising debuting on National HIV Testing Day June 27th, and Latino AIDS Awareness Day October 15th. Through integration with the broader health initiative, the campaign will bring HIV/AIDS information to Latinos through Univision Radio’s weekly hour-long program hosted by Dr. Aliza Lifshitz, quarterly online quizzes and other content at Univision.com, and health vignette programming.
Viacom, Inc., one of the largest media companies in the world, and the Kaiser Family Foundation, a leader in health information and research, have created an unprecedented, cross- platform public information initiative – KNOW HIV/AIDS. The initiative capitalizes on the power of Viacom's - brands and strong audience relationships to reach the public-at-large and populations most affected by the disease.
Taking advantage of the public health expertise of the Foundation and the breadth and depth of Viacom's assets, the multi-year KNOW HIV/AIDS encompasses the creation and dissemination of information about HIV/AIDS through a variety of means, including television, radio, outdoor and other forms of public service advertising (PSAs); HIV-themed television and radio programming; free print and web resources; and an employee education component for Viacom’s more than 100,000 employees worldwide.
Beyond these core elements, various divisions within Viacom have been engaged in other ways as well: for example, Blockbuster, Viacom’s home entertainment retailer, is airing PSAs daily on in-store monitors at 5,500 domestic stores; Simon & Schuster provided an editorial team to work with the Foundation to develop the initiative’s free 30-page informational guide on HIV/AIDS, Get Informed, Get the Facts, and has placed facts on the disease in the back of more than 60 titles; Showtime has placed DVD/VHS inserts into more than 300,000 box sets of popular shows; and VH1 and Noggin, two Viacom channels, recently launched targeted complementary HIV/AIDS campaigns of their own.
All of Viacom’s properties – which include BET, Blockbuster, CBS, Infinity Radio, MTV Networks, Showtime Network, Simon & Schuster, UPN, VH1 and Viacom Outdoor – are involved in the effort. The total ad placements value for the first year alone totals more than $120 million.
The initiative launched in the U.S. on January 6, 2003 with an intensive weeklong concentration of media messages. A second coordinated media blitz occurred in June leading into National HIV Testing Day (June 27), and a third occurred in November leading into World AIDS Day (December 1). In the interim HIV/AIDS messages receive high and sustained visibility across the company. Viacom recently committed to a second year.
Throughout 2003, the first year of the initiative, the campaign generated significant results: 25 television PSAs in over 200 markets ran over 70,000 times; 14 radio PSAs in the top 50 markets ran over 5,000 times; 13 distinct billboard ads ran in the top 25 markets on 4,000 outdoor faces; and nine broadcast shows and six cable programs incorporated HIV/AIDS into their storylines and episodes, which were seen by more than 50 million viewers, and through syndication will be seen by millions more. Audiences have responded with more than 6.5 million unique visits to the KNOW HIV/AIDS Web site; 336,000 calls to the combined hotlines operated by Viacom and Kaiser; and 127,000 requests for the Viacom-Kaiser produced guide on HIV/AIDS. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 44 percent of American adults either recognized the “KNOW HIV/AIDS” brand or had seen at least one of the PSAs. In two of the key target audiences, African-Americans and Latinos, recognition was 51 percent.
With the U.S. component underway, Viacom and Kaiser have been seeking international media partners to extend the initiative’s reach globally, particularly in hard-hit regions of the world. In May, KNOW announced its first such partnership with the BBC to produce public education messages and programming on HIV/AIDS across its radio properties in Africa and the Caribbean. (The BBC reaches upwards of one third to half of populations in Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and elsewhere in Africa. It will be conducted in eight languages.)
KNOW HIV/AIDS builds on the long-standing commitment of various individual Viacom properties to HIV/AIDS and other sexual health issues, namely MTV’s "Fight for Your Rights: Protect Yourself/Be Safe" campaign, which launched in 1997 with The Kaiser Family Foundation, and MTV International's "Staying Alive" and BET's "Rap it Up", both of which commenced in 1998. All three of these initiatives are partnerships with The Kaiser Family Foundation. In addition, CBS, UPN, and Infinity have aired PSAs on HIV/AIDS and sexual health, and Showtime and Paramount have long traditions of employee volunteer efforts aimed at combating the disease and have produced original programming and movies on the topic.
KNOW HIV/AIDS is managed jointly by staff at Viacom and the Kaiser Family Foundation; both organizations provided financial support for its development. The Mel Karmazin Foundation and Sumner Redstone also contributed to the initiative. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided financial support to help seed the international expansion of the initiative.
Future Commitments
KNOW HIV/AIDS will launch its second year on Super Bowl Sunday in the U.S. with a public service message drawing attention to the global AIDS epidemic and the possibility for change with action now. KNOW HIV/AIDS will continue to take a cross-platform approach engaging all divisions within the company. For year two, Viacom has pledged $130 million in media time and space toward the campaign, an increase from year one, and a conservative estimate that does not include any of the entertainment programming components.
34 new public service messages for television, radio and outdoor will be released. A series of these messages will focus on encouraging HIV testing among higher-risk populations. Additionally, a number of Viacom-produced television shows will incorporate HIV/AIDS themes in upcoming episodes, including The District (produced by Universal Television in association with CBS Productions/airs Jan. 17 on CBS); The Parkers (Paramount/Feb. 16 on UPN); Soul Food (a Waterwalk Production, Edmonds Entertainment and State Street Pictures production in association with Paramount Network Television/airs in April on Showtime),and Queer as Folk (Cowlip Productions, Tony Jonas Productions and Temple Street Productions on Showtime). CBS will also premiering Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation The Blackwater Lightship (Feb. 4), a drama (based on the Simon & Schuster novel by Colm Toibin) that explores how three generations of women learn to deal with their differences when a son reveals that he has AIDS. Other shows are currently in development.
Building on the momentum of the 2003 campaign, which delivered HIV awareness and prevention messages to millions of people across the U.S., Europe, Africa and the Caribbean, Viacom and Kaiser will continue to seek expansions of the campaign through partnerships with other media companies around the globe, particularly in hard-hit regions.
The following were achieved through active collaboration and inter sectoral commitment by the Voice of Nigeria and the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), the umbrella body of radio and television stations in the country, in coordination with the Association of Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria and the Organisation of Outdoor Advertising of Nigeria:
Billboards The Nigerian President and two children warn against indiscriminate sex. Femi Anikulapo Kuti – A popular musician educating the youths on the scourge of AIDS.
Print BON has also collaborated with the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria to place arresting advertisements in the newspapers on the danger of the disease HIV/AIDS using popular artists like Charles Oputa (known as “Charley Boy”) and very popular among the youth in Nigeria.
Radio andTtelevision With a total number of 210 radio and television stations in Nigeria, the following have been accomplished:
Creative jingles for general awareness Radio Soap Opera Radio and TV Serial Drama Use of popular personalities on television to relay the causes and effects of HIV/AIDS. Such popular personalities include Professor Wole Soyinka, an international playwright and a Nobel Laureate and the late Professor Ransom Kuti whose younger brother died of AIDS.
Future Commitments
Comic strips in newspapers in Nigeria on HIV/AIDS prevention, music events, talk shows, street theatre/market place activities, public service announcements on all radio and television, village square groups/meetings, traditional institutions/religious leaders, regional programming on Voice of Nigeria in West and East Africa in Ki-Swahili, Arabic, French, English, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulfulde and Igbo Languages.
The Voice of Nigeria and BON seek additional sponsorship to undertake extended efforts.